


I’m a bit of an empath.

by dragonism



Series: Brotzly Ficlets [8]
Category: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Stranger Things Fusion, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Inspired by Stranger Things (TV 2016), Light Angst, M/M, New Relationship, Secret Crush, This is literally a stranger things scene rewritteb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 21:37:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12566740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonism/pseuds/dragonism
Summary: Inspired by the scene at Bauman’s house in Stranger Things S2, Dirk and Todd spend the night at Tina’s place. And she guesses some things even their closer friends have failed to notice.





	I’m a bit of an empath.

“So, uh, can I take the couch?” Todd looked expectantly at Tina, patting the couch they sat on as he spoke.

However Tina just looked at him, swirled her drink and spoke after a moment passed, “Okay I’m confused. What’s going on here?” She lounged back in her chair, pointing at the two and waving her finger so that it looped both of them, ”Lovers quarrel?”

“W-what, no? I mean, we’re just friends.” Todd gestured back between Dirk and himself, shaking his head as Dirk reluctantly nodded beside him.

“Friends! Yes, friends!”

Tina rolled her head back in a fit of laughter, wheezing a little for air and shaking her head, “Woo, okay. Dirk, you’ve told me a lot of shockers these last few days but that... that is the first lie.”

Dirk made a short ‘pfft’ noise, leaning forward and acting as though he were surprised, “It’s not a lie!”

“No?” Tina waved her drink in her hand as she spoke, “C’mon y’all! You’re young... ish. Attractive.” She winked at Todd for that one. “You’ve got chemistry, history, plus! The real shit...” She gestured broadly in front of her, like she was showing off the title of a movie, “Shared trauma.”

They all went quiet for a moment, Dirk and Todd not sure where to look and certainly not looking at each other. Before Tevetino spoke up again, “Trust issues am I right? Something to do with your past.”

Dirk’s gaze shot up, eyes wide and almost scared as he stuttered over his words, “W-What? No. My past is...”

“Terrible.” Todd finished for him, finally bringing himself to look at least close to Dirk as he spoke.

“Mhmm. It is a curse to see so clearly.” Tina nodded thoughtfully, like she knew this all along. And Todd was starting to believe maybe she did. Until she pointed at him suddenly, stretching out her arm so fast her drink almost sloshed over the side of the glass.

“You. You’re harder to read.” She hummed, narrowing her eyes as she gazed intently at Todd, “Probably, like everybody, afraid of what would happen if you accepted yourself for who you really are and retreated back to the safety of... name?” She clicked, “Name!”

“Farah.” Dirk spoke quietly.

“Ohh, bummer. That’s even worse.” Tina groaned, lolling her head back again and impersonating Todd as she spoke, “Oh, Farah. We like old Farah.”

“Yes!” Todd threw his arms up. Admittedly did, maybe at one point, have mild feelings for the woman but he never took them anywhere.

“But we don’t loveeee Farah.”

“No. I- I mean-“ Todd struggled to catch his words, making hand gestures to try to keep up, “I mean- I do!”

Tina stretched again, pointed carefully, “There it is! Ladies and germs, the second,” She rolled her finger dramatically and cocked her head, “Lie of the evening.” She leaned back again, gave a grin, pulled a weed gummy from her little tabletop collection and bit into it as she continued, “So! How’d I do?”

Dirk and Todd couldn’t meet her gaze. Couldn’t look at each other or anything but various points of the room. They both knew she was right, the both knew that Dirk was holding back because of Blackwing and Todd was holding back on the whim that his friendship feeling for Farah might grow into something more and maintain the boring old normal he’d grown used to.

“Hot damn, you two are just adorable aren’t you?” Tina leaned forward, placed down her glass and instead picked up the whole bottle of alcohol she’d been working her way through, “Listen.”

Todd and Dirk looked up as she stood, watching as she continued to walk towards a set of stairs, “There’s a pull out sofa if you want it, but,” Tina paused, leaning over the railing of the staircase, “If I were you, I would just cut the bullshit- and share the dang bed.”

For a moment, they were just left in silence. Watching as Tina disappeared upstairs and not knowing what exactly to do next. It took a few seconds for them to gather themselves, and then without so much as a word they went their separate ways. Dirk towards the bedroom and Todd towards the pull out sofa.

Dirk, in doing this, sat himself down on the edge of his bed. Frowning and shaking his head, “Past issues!”

Todd, mirroring this action, sat down himself, sighing as he felt the springs budge beneath him. This was going to be a long night.

Or maybe it wasn’t.

In the other room, Dirk tossed and turned, clearly still thinking about what Tina had said as Todd sat cross legged with a deep frown, uttering a small, “Afraid.” And shaking his head before repeating the simply word again, “Afraid!”

After a while, Dirk shoved the blanket away from him and sat up again, “Past issues! I don’t have past issues.”

And at the same time, Todd shifted himself, repeating once more a questioning, “Afraid?”

With that, Dirk couldn’t settle. He was up in just a few seconds, uttering to himself and walking out of the room only to be met immediately with Todd. Who had appeared to have the same idea. In seeing each other, they both froze, and Dirk gave a small, nervous sounding, “Hi.”

“Hey.” Todd returned, beginning to walk a little more to meet Dirk.

“I just... I just wanted to say... hm.”

“No, don’t. Don’t. It’s fine... she’s so drunk.”

“Oh absolutely.”

“I mean, yeah!” Todd crossed his arms over his chest, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “She knows us for a like a day and she thinks she’s got us all figured out?”

“Exactly! Yes. Okay. I’m- I’m glad we feel the same way.” Dirk gave a small and fleeting smile as Todd continued to stare at the ground for a moment.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

There was a brief and intensely awkward silence between them, filled with shared glances and a moment of Todd wetting his bottom lip that seemed to draw out far too long under Dirk’s gaze. Then Dirk spoke again, waving his arms a little at his sides, “Ah, so, good night. I suppose!”

Todd watched as he slowly began to make his way back to his room and did the same, wandering backwards as he spoke, “Yeah, good night!”

Todd returned to his room dissatisfied. Disappointed too, though not at all in Dirk, more so in himself and the way he was handling things. He lay don’t with a groan and flicked off the small lamp near his bed. Wondering if Dirk was doing the same.

He wasn’t. In fact Dirk had made no attempt to lay back down. Instead he sat, hugging a pillow in his lap whilst he rocked a little and pondered everything that had just happened. His lamp glared through the darkness as he stared down the door as though expectant for something to happen. And when it didn’t happen? He forced himself to take charge, standing and striding over to open the door only to find that he had simply been impatient, because there on the other side stood Todd.

Just centimetres away from him.

And closing the gap fast.

Dirk’s heart skipped a beat as Todd kissed him. Quick and subtle but very much there and very filled with emotion.

And then he flared with his own confidence, reaching forward to curl his fingers softly around Todd’s shirt and pull him back to press their lips together again. When this happened, Todd pressed his own hands to Dirk’s hips, pushing the man just slightly to nudge him to walk backwards into the room.

The door swinging shut behind them. 


End file.
